1. PLUGINS:
In ,computing a plug­in (also called plugin, addin, add­in, addon, add­on, snap­in or
snapin) is a small software computer program that extends the capabilities of a larger program.
Plugins are commonly used in web browsers to enable them to play sounds and video clips, or
automatically decompressing files. Add­on is often considered the general term comprising plug­
ins, extensions, and themes as subcategories.
purposes and examples
Applications support plug­ins for many reasons. Some of the main reasons include:
•to enable third­party developers to create capabilities to extend an application
•to support features on your computer
•to reduce the size of an application
Examples of applications and their plug­ins include:
•Email clients
use plug­ins to decrypt and encrypt email (Pretty Good Privacy) or to send
oversized email attachments (Globalscape Mail Express)
•Graphics software
use plug­ins to support file formats and process images (Adobe Photoshop)
•Media players
use plug­ins to support file formats and apply filters (foobar2000, GStreamer,
Quintessential, VST, Winamp, XMMS)
C++
•Boost Extension
­ Boost C++ plug­in framework, available from boost sandbox
•FxEngine Framework
—Open C++ dataflow processing framework for audio, video, signal,
etc.
•Qt Plug­Ins
—part of Nokia's Qt Framework
•OmniPeek Plug­in Wizard
—creates plug­ins for WildPackets' OmniPeek Network Analyzer
•Pugg
open Source C++ framework for plug­in management
•OFX
an open standard for visual effects plug­ins.